Lows Lake solo canoe in deer camp 2015

[Robin]

I spent 6 days at Lows again this year, the plan was to arrive on Weds and hunt the following week. The weather gave me fits some high winds with rain so I bailed out Monday. Good time, good eats but very little time hunting. Not sure if I'll do it again, age is catching up to me. Next year I might just use the remainder of my small game tag in early October.

Here's a video of the trip,

 

[Otto]

Nice job on the video, looks like a lot of quiet time. Better luck on your next trip.

[DirtTime]

Thank you for sharing your recent trip with us Robin. Wish it had been better weather for you. Sorry to hear this might be the last trip you make. You Sir, are what hunting is all about. Just doing it, just going out and being in nature. Paddling 12 miles in to hunt deer is dedication, not worrying so much about tagging and just living in the woods like you do is awesome. I can count on one hand the people I know personally that would endure and have the will you do just for the love of the outdoors and hunting deer.

 

[grampy]

Thanks again for taking us along with you! Unfortunately, we have no control over age or the weather. Hopefully next year, both won't seem so bad. And the sun will shine through.

[Daveboone]

Even with a couple good books to pass the time, that little tent must have grown old after the first day!

More power to you for sticking it out as long as you did.

[Fletch]

Sorry to hear the weather was such a pita for you. Next year if you want to take a younger buck(lol getting close to 50 yikes) to haul firewood with you and teach some skills too.......

 

As always thank you for sharing!!

[Robin]

Thanks All, I wish I could have been a little more positive, but I showed you what happened, no sugar coating. Sometimes things just ain't so great and maybe if I was younger I would have sucked it up, hunted the wind and rain, came back to camp wet and thought nothing of it...but I'm older now and more cautious..just getting out there was an effort for me this year.

 

Sitting here next to the wood stove tonight, I think back and wonder if I had done this or tried that, the trip might have been different, but in the end I know I needed to be cautious, I made the best of it and have no regrets.

 

On the way home I said never again, but I'm already re-thinking my options and how I could plan ahead for these conditions next year.

 

Thanks Fletch for the offer, but I'm a true solo type person when it comes to these type of activities...I have a hard time coping with my own company...haha

[Fletch]

LOL Robin I was thinking the same thing. I said give him a couple days to forget about the crap weather and he will be figuring out when to do it again!!

 

Well done!

[NFA-ADK]

Sucks that the weather was not good for you.  I understand your caution in this remote area solo. 

 

  Hope you continue on your adventures, your videos are awesome! 

[BizCT]

Cool video. Too bad you couldn't hunt. Did you see any deer, bear, yotes, fox?

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[DirtTime]

Hey don't beat yourself up about it. We can't control the weather, and most of the time Mother Nature isn't on our side. I did a couple solo camping trips when I was younger, I didn't like it much. Too much time with myself isn't healthy for me. LOL

[Robin]

 I did a couple solo camping trips when I was younger, I didn't like it much. Too much time with myself isn't healthy for me. LOL

 

 

HaHa, Funny

[Robin]

Did you see any deer, bear, yotes, fox?

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No, I heard a coyote a few times near camp and I saw some recent moose tracks on a sand bar. I paddled close to shore for about 4 miles when I moved my camp and checked every likely looking spot for any tracks, like sandbars, beaver trails up into the woods, never saw any deer sign.

[wolc123]

Next year, I would consider moving your trip forward a week to Muzzle-Loading season.  One advantage then will be better odds of good weather.  I have hunted the area 20 - 40 miles North-West of that location for the last 13 years on ML opening week, and the weather has been decent every time.  If there is finer scenery anywhere in the world, I haven't scene it.  It is almost a toss-up between the snow-covered mountains or the peak fall foliage around the lakes and rivers.  What that adds to the hunting and fishing experience can not be measured but comes across pretty good in your videos.  Thanks for sharing. 

 

Up until the last 3 years, I stayed in my old truck camper or a very rustic "off-the-grid" cabin, heated with a wood fire-place.   This year was cold, but I did see a bear.   While still-hunting, I had a chance at a small 4-point buck that stood up 40 yards from my position.   He will be in trouble, if I still have my buck-tag when I return on Thanksgiving weekend with my rifle.  This was the first year in many that I did not see any does.    Does may be legally harvested during ML season up there, and that greatly increases your odds of getting some fresh tenderloins to fry up with your eggs in the morning.   I killed a large doe up there with my ML about 5 years ago, when the weather was again quite cool.

 

Hopefully they will return turkey season to the old dates, to again be open on that week.   I saw more turkeys up there this year than any year in the past.   Ruffed grouse sightings were way up also.  I lost count on the number of those that I flushed while still hunting for deer.   I even shouldered my ML a few times, wishing I had my trusty side by side 16 ga shotgun instead.   I always bring that along and spend more time grouse hunting than deer hunting on the warmer years.  I have cooked many a grouse on a stick over a camp-fire and it sure beats hot-dogs or marshmellows.  

 

Smallmouth bass fishing also gets more of my time then on the warmer years.  Even this year, in the cold, I managed 5-fish limits on Saturday and Sunday in about an hour at mid-day.  I catch all of them on buck-tail jigs that I make myself.  I am sure you know what fresh-fish in the frying-pan tastes like, and it doesn't get much better.   I am heading up again on Thanksgiving weekend.   Last year at that time up there, I managed to kill my heaviest buck ever, in the cold and snowy conditions.   This year, I am hoping it is a little warmer, mostly because I want to get a crack at that bear I saw a few weeks ago.   One last open-water Smallmouth outing would be nice also.   Last year there was 1/4" of ice on the lake the morning after I killed my buck.

I hope you are able to make the trip for many more years to come. 

[Robin]

Thanks WOLC 123

Good thoughts, I enjoyed that nice read...Thanks

[Beaverkill]

Thanks for the video..

I hunted Lows Lake a couple years.. We had Helms fly us in with float plane and spend a week.. The hunting was hard and deer few but it was total isolation. We never saw a soul either on water or land. Those were great trips. I remember having to wait an extra day because weather couldn't get the plane in...

Then there was the night that the wind blew our flue off the stove, while we had a fire, and we had to put a red hot flue back on stove while the tent filled with smoke and flames..

Or the 20 year old outhouse filled with about 40 years of crap sticking a good 6 inches higher than seat...

Fun Times....

[philoshop]

"Too soon old, too late smart."

I don't remember who said it, but it certainly is true.

 

I sat in a canoe on the northern edge of Algonquin Provincial park in 1984 and considered my options.

In the end, I paddled back towards home.

 

I've put a canoe or kayak in just about every waterway in NYS since then, and I've had a lot of fun over the last 30 years.

I'll never stop wondering what might have been.

 

[philoshop]

"Too soon old, too late smart."

I don't remember who said it, but it certainly is true.

 

I sat in a canoe on the northern edge of Algonquin Provincial park in 1984 and considered my options.

In the end, I paddled back towards home.

 

I've put a canoe or kayak in just about every waterway in NYS since then, and I've had a lot of fun over the last 30 years.

But I'll never stop wondering what might have been.

Godspeed Robin.

[Robin]

Thanks for the video..

I hunted Lows Lake a couple years.. We had Helms fly us in with float plane and spend a week.. The hunting was hard and deer few but it was total isolation. We never saw a soul either on water or land. Those were great trips.

Fun Times....

 

Thanks, flying in must have been pretty neat. I saw a plane land there many years ago, dropped off some fishermen. I guess it stopped a while back. 

I saw an older guy than me heading in when I was coming out, although he had modern ligtweight gear and looked to be just going in for an overnight camp.

He was so old that I thought he called me "sonny"...haha

 

 

"Too soon old, too late smart."

I don't remember who said it, but it certainly is true.

 

I sat in a canoe on the northern edge of Algonquin Provincial park in 1984 and considered my options.

In the end, I paddled back towards home.

 

I've put a canoe or kayak in just about every waterway in NYS since then, and I've had a lot of fun over the last 30 years.

But I'll never stop wondering what might have been.

Godspeed Robin.

 

Thanks, I too have paddled many places in NY, lots more in Quebec and Ontario out near Manitoba, seen lots of great country. 

I just sold that big 18' wood canvas Old Town canoe, it was ok to paddle solo but too heavy for me to move around out of the water anymore. I have lighter Chestnuts, my 16' Chestnut Pal is in my shop now, and I'll be paddling that into Lows next October.

 

[wolc123]

Up there on the long Thanksgiving weekend, we had two warm days (Thursday and Friday), and two cold ones (Saturday and Sunday).   I mostly fished on the warm days.  It was nice out on the water but the bite was not as good as it was in October.  I only landed one chunky smallmouth and lost three others.   The grouse were still plentiful in the woods, with about 6 flushes as I searched for the elusive bear or whitetail buck.    I also flushed a wide-bodied buck on the frosty Saturday morning. It was about 15 minutes prior to sunrise, so I did not shoot.  He jumped up just off the trail I was on.  As he bounded off into the pines, I could feel the ground shake each time he landed.

 

There was a fresh scrape just past where he flushed.  I had the wind in my face, so he did not scent me, and his tail was not up as he departed.  I thought there was at least a slim chance that he might return.  I got set up nearby at a spot that offered good visibility and favorable wind.   About 1/2 hour after sunrise, I heard the unmistakable sound of deer approaching.   There were (3), including a large doe, a button-buck just a tad smaller, and a doe-fawn a good bit smaller than the other (2).   They passed within 30 yards.  When they got down wind, the doe snorted, the tails went up, and they ran by me again, back to where they came from.   About short while later,  as the sun broke over the mountains, two more antlerless deer approached from a different location at higher elevation.   I was well camouflaged and they passed very close.   The second one, another big button-buck, got closest to me.  He stopped and stared at me for a while, at point blank range, then calmly continued on after his mother.   Where were all these antlerless deer during October when I had my muzzleloader?  I could only imagine the taste of a fresh button buck liver cooked in an iron frying pan over the campfire.

 

The good news is that the buck population in the area looks pretty good for next year.  The big buck I saw should be even bigger, and the small antlered buck I saw in October (assuming he is still kicking), should fill out into a fine 2-1/2 year old.    I was encouraged to see the big fawns, because I saw 2 coyotes on the drive up, one just about 2 miles from camp.   If this mild winter continues, next years deer hunting should be very good up there.   I hope to get up again in mid February, for a little ice fishing, grouse/squirrel/coyote hunting, and some "snow-scouting" for deer.   I was able to see the near-peak fall foliage in October, but I missed the snow-covered mountains this November.  The scenery up there, at those times, is of such unrivaled beauty, that game harvests are just the "icing on the cake".      

 

      

 

 

 

       

[Robin]

I went back in this past weekend, 4/14-17/16 to camp and scout. I was the first canoe camper into Lows Lake this year, probably because the gate was closed and I had to cart my outfit in 3/4 mile to the put in. I surprised a good size deer standing in some water/grass but other than that saw no tracks or sign from the canoe. I spent some time around Tomar Mt again, not much sign, some trails but no old rubs. Again, I'm not your best or hardest hunter, pretty much just enjoy the big woods and the Adirondacks. 

I'll be heading back in come fall for sure. The wood stove came in handy, temps down to the low 20's in the morning.

 

 

Canoe and campsite, Virgin Timber Landing west end of Lows Lake,

 

 

15' wood canvas Chestnut Chum, 

 

 

my tent

 

 

 

evening with Tomar Mt in the background,

 

 

Daytime scouting, ice had just left the lake so I hugged the shoreline. Pack contains my lunch, a set of clothes and some birch bark, matches punk wood for a quick emergency fire.

Good trip.

 

 

 

[grampy]

I very much enjoy your posts Robin! With the work you put into your trips. You seem to get double back in enjoyment. Also, great pictures as always! Thanks for sharing with us.

[ncountry]

Looks like a great time! I haven't been to Lows lake in years. Do you get a chance to do much fishing? Word is, that it is fantastic bass fishing . I think we camped near western end, on the part they call grass pond?

We portaged from the western end 3.5 miles to the head waters of the Oswegatchie. You could catch native brookies as fast as you could re-hook a worm and toss them out..   yummmmmy..

[Robin]

I very much enjoy your posts Robin! With the work you put into your trips. You seem to get double back in enjoyment. Also, great pictures as always! Thanks for sharing with us.

Thanks Grampy I do get alot of enjoyment up there at Lows, and with no wind it was great to be back. I scouted around and found a good supply of beaverwood for this falls trip too.

 

Looks like a great time! I haven't been to Lows lake in years. Do you get a chance to do much fishing? Word is, that it is fantastic bass fishing . I think we camped near western end, on the part they call grass pond?

We portaged from the western end 3.5 miles to the head waters of the Oswegatchie. You could catch native brookies as fast as you could re-hook a worm and toss them out..   yummmmmy..

 

I haven't fished Lows in many years but back in the day the floating bog was the place to be for bass. My campsite was close to that portage over to the Oswegatchie. My son and I did pretty good with the brookies above the falls one year, but we paddled in from Inlet. Thanks

[Paula]

So glad your back. I was just sharing your story last week